A bond so strong
by Bavaria78
Summary: A mission, that went south leaves Jack and Riley fighting for their lives. Add to that some MacGyver whump and the chaos is perfect. Sorry for the poor summary and language.
1. Chapter 1

AN:

Hey guys, I'm back. This story centers around Jack and Riley, although the rest of the Phoenix team is involved as well. It was a request from Nicole Miklos, so I hope I didn't disappoint you, Nicole.

I don't own any of the characters. Sorry, for the mistakes I've made, but English is not my first language.

Chapter 1

„His social security number?"

„Are you crazy? You will NOT harass the guy, Jack! You got me?" Riley was furious.

„Hey, you don't know anything about him. He could be a mass murderer, or worse an Eagles supporter!" Jack was seriously concerned, but he tried to hide the fact by adding that last sentence.

„I'm telling you once and for all. Stay out of my love life. You are not my father." As soon as Riley had spoken the harsh words, she regretted it. She tried to smooth them over: „Look Jack, I appreciate your concern for me, I really do, but I'm a grown up. I make my own decisions as well as my own mistakes."

Jack tried to hide, how Rileys words had hurt him. He knew he overstepped the line a bit, but he couldn't help himself. He thought about Riley and Mac, and even sometimes about Bozer, as his kids. Jack always worried about them. More than they could imagine. He loved these kids dearly and it would kill him, if anything happened to one of them. Jack took a deep breath and apologized: „I'm sorry Ri, but you don't know this guy. Just promise me, to be careful and listen to your gut feeling."

Riley gave him a hug: „I promise, if you promise, not to worry so much about me, Pappa Bear."

Jack enjoyed having his girl in his arms. He tried to memorize the moment. „That's a promise I won't make, because the moment I stop worrying about you, is the moment I'm dead. Have a good time sweetheart, and if anything should happen, I'm just a phone call away."

„I know. See you tomorrow at work." Riley left the deck of Macs apartment. Jack stood there alone and was thinking.

„She's got another blind date?" Mac stepped out and handed Jack a beer.

„Yeah, and it's killing me every time she does it. I just don't get it. She's a beautiful woman with a sharp mind. Why can't she meet guys the old fashioned way at a football game or in a bar?"

„Welcome to the 21st century Jack. Relax buddy, Riley's smart, she can take care of herself pretty well." Mac tried to calm the Delta down.

Jack took a long swallow of his beer. „You're right Mac, but I think I'm gonna haul her into the gym to show her some more tricks to defend herself." He yawned. „I'm gonna go home."

„See you tomorrow brother. Try to get some sleep." Mac said as an goodbye.

The next morning the team had gathered in the war room. Jack tried to find out, how Rileys date turned out. „Did you have a nice dinner with Mr. X?"

„His name is Justin and yes, we had a pretty good time." Riley smiled mysteriously.

„You didn't take him home with you, did you?" Jack was alarmed.

„Jack what are you thinking of me? And if I did, it's nothing to you." Riley answered, her temper flaring.

Jack wanted to respond, but was cut short by Matty, who had just entered the room.

„Do you need more time to discuss your dates, or can we start working?" She asked in a sarcastic voice.

Mac stated: „What's up Matty?"

„Well, something really serious, that could have desastrous consequences, if we're not able to prevent the deal. There's a code on the black market for sale. This code is able to change the direction of a fired long-range missile. That means every long-range missile, that is fired all over the world could be deflected."

Jack whistled. „Wow, that could change the outcome of a war, or even create a new one. That's bad."

Matty agreed: „Correctly. We know, where the code is. It's at an old junkyard two hours outside of LA. We just have to get the code, before the deal is going to take place. Riley, I want you to make a copy, so we can find out, who invented it. Then you'll destroy the original."

Riley nodded. „I'm ready."

„Good. Mac you go with her. Jack will stay outside as a backup. Bozer you are in the van."

„No!" Jack disagreed. „I'm going in with her. I'm better at protecting her, if it comes down to a fight. And genius here is the best choice, if we need a distraction to get out."

Mac spoke up: „I agree with Jack, we have to consider the compound will be heavily guarded. A junkyard is the perfect location, when we need to distract the bad guys." Mac looked like a kid in a toy shop.

„Ok, you have a point blondie. There are some satelite photos of the junkyard. It's a pretty secluded area. Only a single dirt road, that is leading there. As you can see, on one side the compound borders on a river. On the other sides there is only forrest. There is a small parking lot beyond the woods for hiker. Bozer you will wait there with the van. That's the closest, we can get without risking to be spotted. Any questions? Good. Your heading out in 20. Good luck."

The team was gathered in the van, going over the last details. „I've hacked the cameras, they are running on replay now. There is only a mesh wire fence and we're in." Riley informed them.

„Ok, the trip through the woods will take us about 45 minutes at least. We should be back in 2 hours maximum," calculated Mac.

Jack checked his guns one last time and adjusted his Tac vest. „You guys are ready to go?" Everybody nodded. „Coms are working? Ok, let's go."

The trip through the woods was nasty. A lot of underbrush and thorn bushes. They remained silent except from an ocasional curse. As they neared the compound, Jack took Riley by the arm. He handed her a hunting knife. „I know, you don't want to carry a gun Ri. Put this in your boot, just in case."

Riley smiled. „Thanks Jack." She stored the knife in her boot. Meanwhile Mac had cut a decent hole into the fence. „The code has to be in the main building. I'm waiting over there, between the stack of old cars."

There were two armed guards patrolling around the building. Jack took the first one out without sound. He had choked the man unconscious and pushed him under one of the cars. The second guard turned around and was met with an iron fist, that sent him into oblivion immediately. Jack gave Riley a signal and she sprinted over to him. Together they entered the unlocked building.

They had to search every room, because they hadn't any intel where the code was. It was a long straight corridor with three doors on either side, before it turned the corner. The first four doors were the wrong ones. A kitchen, a storing room, an empty room and a bed room. They could hear voices from the next room and decided to avoid it for now. The last room looked like an office, with all the usual stuff. „Bingo!" Riley whispered and moved over to the computer and began to work. „Hurry up, Riley. I have a feeling, we don't have much time for this."

„I've rigged up something. Just tell me, when to set it off." Mac informed them over the coms.

„Copy that," Jack confirmed and observed the hall through the door, that was open a split. „How long do you need Ri?"

„I've already cracked their firewall, but the download will take at least two minutes. After that I've to install the virus, that'll destroy the code. So, three maybe four minutes in all."

Jack sighed and closed the door. „We don't have four minutes. They're coming, take cover behind the desk. Mac blow it up, now." Seconds later, there was a loud blast and angry voices were heard rushing down the hall. Jack stood behind the door his gun ready. „Good job, Mac. Stay out of sight. There are at least six guys heading out."

Mac took cover behind a crane. Jacks intel was correct. Six guys with guns at the ready were swarming out carefully. Two of them were heading in Macs direction. Mac pushed a button on his remote an the tires of a pile of cars exploded and the whole stack came crashing down.

On of the guards shouted: „Release the dogs, we have some rats here."

Dogs! Oh shit. Mac thought. „Jack be careful, when you head out they have … crap that are Rottweiler. I try to get over to the other side." Mac took off running. He tried to zigzag through the cars, but the dogs were closing in on him. The bullets flying through the air and bouncing of the junk didn't make this task any easier. Suddenly Mac had to stop, he had reached the river bank. It was really steep and Mac turned around and raised his hands. „Mac where the hell are you?" Came Jacks voice over the coms.

„Look, what we got here," one of the guards snarled. The dogs were growling and closing in on Mac. He tried to step back a little further, but the ground was getting unstable under his feet.

„Hey guys, I can explain …" Mac started, but was cut short by the bullet, that hit his upper body. He cried out and fell over backwards. Mac tumbled down the river bank right into the cold water with a splash. The river had a strong current due to the heavy rains of the last days and Macs body was washed away and out of sight in moments.

„Don't have to worry about that one. Let's go back and see, if he was alone."

While Mac had started the first explosions, Riley had finished the download. She took out the USB drive, closed it and clipped it into her hair, because it was designed as a hairclip. She had just started the upload of the virus, as the door opened and two men stormed in.

Jack stopped the first one with a punch to the throat, which sent the man down to his knees, clasping his throat gurgling. He shot the second right between the eyes, a split second before the other could pull the trigger of his gun. „Get a move Riley," Jack shouted and Riley pushed the enter button. „Ready," she answered, stepped over the dead man and followed Jack out into the hall. Four more men appeared in the corridor, blocking the way out. Jack threw himself forward right into the pile of men. He managed to knock one out with a single punch, but was kicked into the knee from the side. Jack went down as his leg gave out, but elbowed another in the gut. The guy went down with a grunt. Jack got up again, as his head was smashed into the wall with such force, that he almost passed out, he felt blood running down his face and into his right eye. He dimly heard Rileys cry of pain, as one enemy grabbed her by the hair and forced her down. That was all it took to bring him round. He threw his head back with force and broke the nose of his attacker. One of the others had recovered from the blow, he received and came at Jack again. They traded punch after punch, with Jack getting the worst of it, due to the heavy blow to his head. Jack had enough and threw his whole body into the guy, who lost his balance, he wriggled around him, brought his hands up and with a quick snap, broke the neck of the guard. Jack had just turned around, as the man with the broken nose, barreld into his middle with his head down. Jack felt his ribs crack and the air driven out of his body. He went down, but took the other guy with him, reaching down for his knife and with one swift move cut the throat of him. Jack rose to his feet panting. The guard, who was knocked out first had made it to all fours and Jack sent him back into darkness with a heavy boot to the head. Jack turned around and almost fell over as the room was spinning wildly. Riley, take care of Riley screamed his mind. He blinked to focus again and saw Riley on her knees, the last guard holding her hair with one hand and a knife in the other. He moved to make the kill, but Jack took him out with a perfect shot to the head.

Jack stumbled over to Riley and pulled her to the feet. „Are you hurt honey?" His voice was full of concern. Jack had problems to get his breathing under control. Riley shook her head, no, too shaken to speak. Jack took her by the arm and limped to the door.

Then came Macs warning over the coms. „Jack be careful, when you head out they have … crap that are Rottweiler. I try to get over to the other side." They could hear Macs heavy breathing, as he was running, over the coms. „Let's go over to the other side. Hopefully we'll meet Mac there. They probably have discovered the whole in the fence by now." They moved silently along the buildings and soon reached the fence. Jack pulled out a wire cutter and opened the fence. They heard another crash from the junkyard. Angry barking dogs and Macs voice „Hey guys, I can explain .." A shot followed by a too familiar cry of pain, rustling, breathing, moving rocks, a splah and then … nothing.

„Mac! Mac, answer me, please! Come on brother, talk to me," Jack pleaded, but it was in vain. He contacted Bozer, who had heard everything and was on stand by. „Bozer, I think Mac's been shot and has fallen into the river. You have to move and move fast buddy. The water is freezing and the current is strong. Hurry Bozer, hurry. We can't reach him from our position. We try to circle around and reach the parking lot. Matty send another van to pick us up there."

„I'm on my way." Bozer answered and tore out of the parking lot.

„Backup will be there in 30 minutes Jack, is the code secured and the original destroyed?"

„Yeah, that's the only thing that went well. Jacks pretty banged up Matty." Riley couldn't hide her concern.

„I'm fine." He wheezed.

„How bad?" came at the same time.

„Nasty head wound, maybe broken ribs and something's not right with his knee."

„Just some bruises Matty. Nothing to worry about, we're on our way, now." Jack was all business.

„Why did you play down your injuries. You look like a mess!" Riley couldn't understand.

„Well, a) it's not as bad as it looks b) I've had worse and c) there's nothing we can do about it anyway. So why don't we stop taking and get the fuck out of here." Jack was in no mood to discuss his injuries and he was too worried about Mac. He didn't even know, if his friend was still alive. The other thing, that bothered him was, that he almost had lost his girl.

Please let me know, what you think. I promise to answer every review!


	2. Chapter 2

AN:

Many thanks for all the reviews. I'd like to thank the two guests for your reviews, but since you are not registered I will thank you here. So, the mission went south. I'm sorry Phoenix team, but your day is getting worse. I'm no medic, so please go easy on me. Enjoy!

Chapter 2

They were running through the woods as fast as they could. Jack knew, if the dogs found their trail, their chance to get out of the woods were slim to nothing. Jacks knee was slowing him down and he couldn't get in enough air. Riley didn't have much left either. The adrenaline kept them going for now. The good thing was, that they heard nothing behind them. Jacks vison was a bit foggy, the result from the blows to the head, he had taken. Every breath he took hurt like hell, he was sure he had at least two broken or cracked ribs. Jack didn't have to look at his knee to know, that it was swelling up very quick. Focus Dalton! Rileys and Macs well-being were much more important.

„Why are we running away from the parking lot?" Riley wanted to know.

„They probably found our way in, so they know, where we came from. We go a little further and then circle around. We can't take the road to the junkyard, because they'll be watching it for sure. I just hope, the dogs won't find our trail to quick. Being put on the feed back of a Rottweiler is definitely not on my bucket list."

Riley nodded. „Jack, what you did in that building …"

„I'm sorry, if I scared ya, but I had no other choice. If …"

Riley interrupted him: „No Jack, you didn't scare me. I knew you were a good fighter, being a Delta and so. But to be honest, I had no idea, that you are literally a killing machine. If it wasn't for you, I'd be dead. Thank you."

„Your welcome Ri. I'm just sorry, that I couldn't keep Mac safe as well." Jack sighed, not able to keep the guilt, he felt out of his tone.

„Don't worry …" Her answer was cut short by a scream of pain from her. She had missed a step and tumbled down a short, but steep slope. Jack was at her side a second later. Riley moaned and was clearly in a lot of pain.

„Where does it hurt, Ri?"

„My shoulder," she managed through clenched teeth.

„Ok sweetheart, I have to take a look at it." Jack carefully opened Rileys jacket and gently felt around her shoulder. Riley hissed in pain. „Sorry, but I think it's dislocated. I'll have to pull it back into the socket. Do you trust me?" The hacker nodded. „Ok, that's how we gonna do this. You just have to lie still and let me do the rest. I'm gonna take your wrist and pull. You ready?"

„Just do it Jack."

„Ok, on the count of three."

„One, two, three," Jack had laid one hand on Rileys chest, to keep her from moving and pulled in one fluid motion. Rileys scream was louder than the soft plop, when the shoulder popped back into place.

Riley tried to catch her breath.

„Sorry Ri, I'm so sorry." Jack was feeling guilty for inflicting pain on his girl.

„It's ok Jack. Really." She managed between gulping in air. „Thank you, the pain is lessening already. Help me up." She held up her good arm and Jack helped her gently to a sitting positon. He removed his belt and fashioned a sling. Jack carefully placed Rileys arm in it. „Do you think, you can walk?"

Riley smiled weakly. „It's my arm and not my leg, Jack. Let's go."

They moved at a slower pace now. Some time later they stepped around some thick bushes and froze. Six loaded guns were pointed at them. Jack couldn't risk Riley getting shot and raised his hands. One of their opponents, a big blonde guy, spoke into his radio. „We've got them. Where should we take them?"

„Bring them to our backup place," came the answer over the radio.

„Copy." He ripped their earpieces out and destroyed them, as well as their cell phones. Jacks weapons were taken. They found even the knives, they carried. No amateurs. Then a rifle was shoved painfully into Jacks back. „Move." Jack looked over to Riley and nodded, to signal her to do, as they were told. This was not the time, nor the place to make an escape attempt. Jack just hoped that Bozer had found Mac and that his friend was alive.

The pain from the bullet was immediately numbed by the coldness of the water. It was freezing. Mac went under and came up, coughing and spluttering. He tried to swim to the river bank, but the current was to strong and his left arm wasn't working. Mac strength was leaving him fast. He crawled with his good arm and was able to grab a sturdy branch. He pushed with his feet, but still wasn't able to get to the shore. Suddenly the river widened and the current lessend significantly. With his last reserves Mac managed to reach the bank. He pulled himself out of the water and collapsed unconscious.

It had taken Bozer ten minutes to reach the river, but it was dark and he had only a torch to search for Mac. „Damn it," he swore. He called Phoenix. „Matty, get someone to track Macs phone. We think, he was shot and went into the river. I need some intel, where to start searching for him."

„Ok, Jill's on it. I'll send am ambulance, too."

„Thanks Matty."

„Ok Bozer, he's about half a mile downstream from your position. He's not moving, so he might have made it out of the water."

„Got it," Bozer took of running.

„Please let him be ok. Please let him be ok." He muttered over and over again.

A prone body came into view. Bozer fell onto his knees and carefully turned his friend over. „Mac, can you hear me?" Wilt was shocked, how cold Mac was. The front of his shirt was covered in blood. The only positive was, that the cold water seemed to have slowed down the bleeding. Bozer ripped open Macs shirt, he gasped at the ugly looking wound, that was too near to Macs heart for his liking. Bozer took of his jacket and put it over Mac to warm him up a bit. He tried to bring Mac round, but he got no response. With shaking hands Bozer felt for the blondes pulse, it was weak and erratic. „Come on Mac, you have to fight, man," he urged his friend. Finally he could hear the approaching ambulance. The medics took out their equipment and ran over to their patient. Bozer stood back not to get in their way. They took Macs vitals and covered the wound with some gaze. After an IV was set, they put Mac on a stretcher and into the ambulance. Bozer climbed in and took a seat in the corner.

He remembered, that he had to call the team and spoke into the coms: „Hey guys, I've found Mac. Jack you were right. He … Mac … was shot. It's bad. I'm in the ambulance with him now."

Matty answered: „There will be a helicopter meeting the ambulance in a few minutes. This way, we can get Mac to Phoenix medical the fastest. And Bozer, I'm sorry, but we lost the contact with Jack and Riley. Both their coms and cells are dead. I've got a tac team out, they are digging out that junkyard now."

Bozer closed his eyes. That could not be happening, this could only be a nightmare, he just had to wake up. A bump in the road caused his head to crash against the wall of the ambulance. Nope, no nightmare, Bozer thought as he rubbed the back of his head. He prayed, that the tac team would find Jack and Riley soon.

Jack and Riley were shoved through the woods, until they reached the dirt road, that led to the junkyard. There was a van waiting. Jack had to admit, the bad guys were pretty well organized. As soon as the door opened, they were roughly pushed inside. With his hands tied behind his back, Jack had no chance to brace himself. He landed hard and felt something give in his chest, now the ribs were definitely broken. He tried to suck in air, but couldn't do it. He was wheezing. Riley was lying bedside him. Her hands bound as well. She immediately saw, that something was wrong with Jack. „Jack, oh my god. Breathe Jack, try to take slow breaths." She turned around to one of their guards. „You have to help him, he can't breathe!"

They just laughed. One of them snarled: „Serves him right, he just killed five good men. I hope he suffers like hell." He kicked his leg out and hit Jack on his bad knee for good measure.

Jack couldn't speak, he was occupied to suck in much needed air. After a while he was able to breathe a little easier. Riley watched him with concern. This didn't go unnoticed by Jack, he hated that Riley had to experience a mission going south at first hand. He had always hoped, he could spare his girl a scenario like that. Jack sent her a small smile. „Don't worry Ri. We'll get out of this, I promise. How's your shoulder?" He whispered.

„It hurts, but not as bad as before." She admitted, returning the smile.

It was hard to tell, how long they were driving, but Jack thought it was at least an hour. He took inventory of their situation. They had no coms, no cell phones, so he had to assume, that Phoenix had no idea where they were. Short: they were on their own. It was not a new situation for Jack to be in. Hell, no! He had lost count of that. The only thing, he was really worried about, was Riley. She was already hurt and scared. Jack had always protected her and he feared, that he might not be able to keep her from harm this time. He didn't really care, what they did to him, but the thought what they could do to his girl simply terrified him. Stop it Dalton! Get your shit together! He tried to calm his breathing, he would find a way to get out of this fuckin´ mess.

The van was slowing down. Good, that meant, they were still in the area. The vehicle stopped and the door was opened. Jack immediately strained his neck to get as much intel about the location as possible. It looked like they were brought to an abandoned factory, or something like that. The van was parking in the middle of an huge empty hall. No windows, just a side door and a gate, that was being closed by one of the guards. On the other side of the building there was door, that led into an dimly lit hallway.

Jack and Riley were grabbed and shoved into the hallway. They were led to a room at the end of the floor. Jack tried to get a look around, there were eight of the bad guys. Although the big blonde was calling the shots here, he wasn't definitely the boss of the gang. The room, they were pushed in was empty, except from a couple of wooden chairs and a table on the side wall. No windows, crap!

Jack and Riley were forced onto the chairs. Their restraints on their hands were loosened, only to be tied to the armrests of the chair. Riley couldn't suppress a groan, as her injured shoulder was jarred in the process. Jack looked over, wishing he could take her pain. The blond stepped back and said. „Enjoy the break, once the boss is here, we're gonna have some fun with you two." He crouched down before Riley and caressed her knee. „I'm really looking forward to it."

Riley spit him in the face. „Take this asshole," she hissed. That earned her a slap to her face, that made her see stars.

„Untie me, you son of a bitch. Then I'm gonna show you, what real fun is." Jack fought against his restraints with all his might.

The blond laughed: „You two are really a cute couple. See you later." They were alone.

The helicopter ride took only 15 minutes, but to Bozer it felt like hours. The medics had wrapped Mac in blankets to warm his body up, as his temperature was dangerously low. His lips were blue and he wasn't shivering. Bozer knew, that was a bad sign. He didn't have to look at the monitors, to know that his vitals weren't good either.

As they landed on the roof of the Phoenix building, there was already a team of doctors and nurses waiting to take over. Matty was there as well. They followed the gurney into the building. Outside the ER they had to wait. Bozer fell down onto one of the waiting chairs. Matty laid her hand on his arm. „He's strong, he'll make it. MacGyver is way to stubborn to die."

Bozer looked up. „He was so cold and there was so much blood," he choked. He took a deep breath. Mattys phone rang. She turned away, but Bozer could tell by her body language, that it weren't good news. Matty hung up and turned around.

„Any news from Riley and Jack?" Bozer wasn't sure, he wanted to know the answer.

Matty sighed: „The tac team searched the junkyard. There was nobody around, apart from the Rottweiler. They searched the woods as well. They found the destroyed cells and coms. Jack and Riley must have been caught and taken somewhere else.

„What do we know about the owner of the junkyard?" Wilt asked.

„That's a dead end. It belongs to an old couple, that has recently moved into an old people's home. They have no children."

„So we have no idea, where Jack and Riley are?" Bozer was shocked.

„I'm afraid, not yet, Wilt. But the tac team is taking the place apart." Matty sighed. „Riley would be able to find someting. Bozer, I know you are concerned about Mac, but he's in good hands. Our other concern right now are Jack and Riley. Let's go to the war room and see, what we can find out."

Bozer nodded. „This is a nightmare Matty."

„I know, Bozer. I know."

Pleas review!


	3. Chapter 3

AN:

Job hunting really sucked today, so I decided to do something a little more productive. Your luck!

Poor Jack, but the more you whump him, the better he gets. Enjoy and please review.

Chapter 3

Jack was struggling against his bonds. It was in vain, the only thing he managed, was to rub his wrists bloody against the rope. Riley wasn't successful either.

Jack gulped. „Riley, my girl I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. I'm sorry!"

„What the hell are you talking about? Nothing of this is your fault." Riley was confused.

„It is hun. If I had taken you back they way we went in, we might have escaped. Or if I had Mac let go in with you, he's smart, he would have found a way. Or if …"

„Jack, stop it," Riley interrupted him sharply. „None of this is your fault. Did you forget the fact, that you saved my life in there? You took out 6 guys all alone. You can always torture yourself with thousands of _what-ifs_. There's no use in it. The mission went south, it's not the first time, that has happened. We have to adjust and find the way out. And to be honest, there is nobody, not even Mac, I'd have rather by my side, than a Jack Dalton in Delta-mode. So please Jack, don't blame yourself for any of this."

„You're a tough little cookie, you know?" Jack smirked.

Riley laughed: „A cookie, really Jack? No wonder, you don't have any dates big guy. I think, I have to do some training with you in that area."

Jack huffed. „Says the girl, that goes on blind dates."

Riley sobered: „Jack, I want to apologize for getting so angry with you about the blind dates. I realized today, how lucky I am to have you, looking out for me. I know, I'm not good at showing it, but I …I love you like the father, I've never had." A few silent tears were running down her face.

„Oh, Riley you don't have to apologize. I love you too." Jack had to blink to keep his eyes from overflowing.

„When you got me out of prison, I know I was pretty nasty to you. It wasn't because of you, Jack. It was me. You were always so proud of my abilities with a computer and what did I? Managed to get myself into the can. I was ashamed Jack, I turned down your visits, because I couldn't look you in the eye. But you came anyway," Jack raised an eyebrow. „Yes I know, you stopped requesting a visit, but one of the guards told me, you came every week to check on me." She laughed. „You threatened the guards, if something would happen to me, there would be hell to pay."

Jack shrugged. „Well, I had to do something."

Riley changed the topic: „What do you think, they're going to do with us?" Jack could hear the slight tremor in her voice.

„I won't lie to you, Ri. It won't be pretty. But I don't plan to hang around and wait to get killed."

„What do you have in mind?" Riley asked.

Jack opened his mouth, but was silenced by the opening of the door.

The blond guy and another guard entered the room, followed by a tall, bald head man in a suit. He stood there and just watched them for a while. He tries to intimidate us, Jack thought. He smiled: „Ah, finally the room service. I'd like to have a salami pizza and a nice cold beer. What do you want, honey?"

The suit just nodded to the guard to his right. The gorilla had huge hands and a mean grin. He stepped in front of Jack and delivered a solid right hook to Jacks head. Riley sucked in a sharp breath. Jack just laughed. „Oh, right to the dessert. That's great." Another blow resulted in a bad cut over Jacks eye. That was a thing, Jack was good at. Pissing people off. It wasn't that he liked being punched. But he had to draw the attention of the bad guys to him, to protect Riley. And to achieve that, he would gladly take a hundred punches.

„Hey Kojak, do you have a lolly for me?" He addressed the man in the suit. The next blow broke Jacks nose. Great! As if breathing wasn't bad enough already.

Matty threw her hands up in frustration. „There must be something, that leds us to these assholes."

Bozer sat there, his head in his hands. He felt totally useless. Normally there was always a little piece, he could add to help solve a tricky situation. Not this time. He was at a total loss, what to do, and Matty seemed too.

The door to the war room opened and the doctor walked in. Bozer jumped to his feet. „How is he, doc?" The medic smiled. „He was lucky. In fact, the cold water probably saved his life, by slowing the bleeding down. I was able to remove the bullet without complications. Mac's gonna be alright. He's in recovery right now."

„Can I see him?" Bozer was already halfway out of the room.

„Bozer, I understand your need to be with your friend, but we have to think of Jack and Riley. They need us more than Mac right now." Matty gently stopped him.

„You're right, Matty. It's just …"

„I know, Wilt. Let's go over everything again. We must have missed something."

The room was spinning wildly around Jack. Nausea was accompanying his other pains. He tried to take some steadying breaths, but with the broken ribs and nose, that was easier said than done. After a few moments his vision cleared. He looked over to Riley. Her eyes were wide with fear. He tried to blink, to reassure her.

The suit stepped forward. „Enough! Where is the code?"

„What code?" Jack played dumb. This time the gorilla aimed for his ribs. Jack coughed. He didn't know, if he should be thankful or not, that the guy had hit his good side.

„You know exactly what I mean! The code you've stolen. Or do you think I believe for one minute, you only destroyed it? I'm waiting."

„Well, I've lost the code for my suitcase last month. Maybe you've lost your code as well?"

The gorilla found another place for his fist. It felt, like a sledgehammer was driven into his kidney. The pain was so bad, everything went gray for some time. Jack could Riley hear crying: „Oh Jack."

„I'll give you some time to think about your attitude. Next time Arnie here won't be so nice anymore."

Jack laughed. „Arnie? Are you serious? Schwarzenegger would be ashamed by your poor performance."

Arnie stepped forward and punched Jack in the face as a goodbye.

As soon as the door closed Riley asked. „Are you insane Jack? Why did you provoke him so much? He could have killed you!"

Jack spit a mouthful of blood to the side. „What should I have done?"

„Keep your mouth shut, maybe?" Riley was clearly upset.

„You know, that's not in my nature. I've been in this situation a few times already. It doesn't help to show them, that you are scared. So I'm runnin of my mouth, instead of being intimidated by them. They get irritated and make a mistake, if you are lucky. But at least, it usually buys you some time."

„Usually? Jack this is NOT a situation, I wanna get used to. It's …" she swallowed hard. „It's horrible to see you get hurt."

„Don't worry about me. I'm fine." The slurring belied his words. „Matty's gonna find us, she's like one of them Rottweiler. She doesn't let go, once she's bitten into something."

Riley laughed: „I can't wait to tell her that. Do you really think, they'll find us?"

„Sure. We weren't driving very long, so we're still somewhere in the area. Don't give up Ri. I'll get us out of this mess. I won't be as creative as Mac would be, but I get the job done." Jack didn't feel as confident as he sounded, but he had to reassure his girl, so she wouldn't panic. He thought of Mac, and he sent a silent prayer, that his friend was alright. Jack closed his eyes and tried to loosen his muscels a bit, to get some rest. He would need every ounce of strength, when the bad boys came back.

„Bozer!" He flinched. „Sorry Matty, I can't stop to think of Mac."

„Go Bozer, you're not helping by staring holes in the floor. Check up on Mac!"

„Really?"

„Yeah, maybe blondie can come up with something." Matty didn't want to admit it, but she was at her wits end. Every lead she followed ended in a dead end. She grabbed her phone to call in every favour. She wouldn't let Jack and Riley down.

Bozer sat down beside Macs bed. The monitor showed that Macs vitals were stable, although he was awfully pale. Wilt took his limp hand and pleaded: „You have to wake up Mac. Come on man, please open your eyes." But his begging was not rewarded. Bozer sighed and leaned back. Going over every detail in his mind again. He had the nagging feeling, that he had missed something.

A soft groan from the bed startled him. „Mac! That's it buddy. Open your eyes." This time he got the desired reaction. Macs eyelids fluttered and opened. His gaze was unfocused at first, but slowly his eyes settled on Bozers face. „Bozer what happened?" You could hear the strain in his voice.

„You were shot at the junkyard and fell into the river. I found you. You've lost a lot of blood, but the doc could remove the bullet without any trouble. You'll make a full recovery." Bozer rattled of.

„Junkyard. I remember. Where's Jack?" He looked around confused, because it was usually Jack, who was sitting with him, when he woke up after surgery.

„Ah, well … he …they…"

„Out with it Boze!" The fog in Macs brain began to lift.

„Oh Mac. Jack heard the shot and assumed, that you fell into the river. He sent me downstream to get you. Shortly after that, we lost coms. Matty sent the tac team in, but everybody, except the dogs, was gone. They found the destroyed coms and cells in the woods. We're following every clue, but until now, nothing. We have no clue, where they at."

Mac fought the rising panic. He knew, Jack was a very capable agent, but he was alone. Riley was tough, but Mac had seen the guards. They were well trained.

„And you have no clue? The owner, something they left behind?"

Bozer shook his head. „No. The owners are an old couple, who moved out recently. And the bad guys cleaned the place up. Only the dogs were there, when our team took the place apart."

Macs face lit up: „That's it. The dogs will tell us!"

Bozers brow furrrowed: „Maybe, they should reduce the drugs, they gave you, a bit. Mac, dogs can't talk."

Mac was excited, he tried to sit up in bed, but was stopped by a sharp pain in his upper body. He groaned and closed his eyes to ride out the wave of pain. The monitor gave an alarm signal.

Bozer reached for the call button. „No, Bozer. I'm good, just … need to … get my … breath."

After a few minutes MacGyver was able to explain. „I saw some dog licence tags on the Rottweiler. Get the number and you can find out, who the owner is. I doubt, they belonged to the old couple."

Mac sank back, exhausted.

„Mac you're a genius. I gotta go buddy. We've got to save Jack and Riley." With that Bozer ran back to the war room.

To soon for Jacks liking the door opened again. He had worked on his bonds the whole time. The rope was slick with his blood, but the bonds still wouldn't give an inch. The ties on his feet weren't so tight, but he couldn't get out of them either.

Kojak and his two bullies stepped into the room. Jacks vision was blurry, his left eye was almost swollen shut.

„So, I see you've tried to get free." Kojak smirked after seeing Jacks bloody wrists. „Well, talk to us and I'll let you go."

Jack laughed. „Yeah, sure."

„Who do you work for?"

„I sell bathroom tiles," Jack used his usual cover. The fist to his face told him, they didn't like his answer.

„Hey don't get angry. I'll give you a good price. This place could use some nice tiles. Would make it easier to clean up all that blood." Another blow to his midsection, this time to his broken ribs. The air was driven out of his body, he puffed and wheezed. The room seemed to be in a fog. Stay conscious, Jack! Don't pass out. Slowly oh so slowly he began to get little oxygen into his starving lungs.

„Doesn't feel to good, does it?" Kojak seemed to enjoy the show. „But you won't tell me a thing, am I right? You're some kind of special ops guy." He turned to Arnie. „Break her fingers!"

It happened so fast, when Jacks brain figured out the meaning of the words, Arnie had already stepped over to Riley and broken her ring and pinkie finger of her right hand. Riley screamed in pain.

„You've just signed your death sentence." Jack threw himself forward and crashed sideways into the blond guard. The chair broke and Jack was free, a split second later the guard fell to the floor with a broken neck. Kojak turned and fled. Arnie was coming at Jack, but he was ready. The adrenaline was pumping through his body, feeding the need for revenge.

Jack sidestepped the first punch and delivered a heavy elbow right between the shoulders of his combatant. Arnie grunted and fell down on one knee. Jack drove his boot into the side again and again. Arnie caught his boot and turned Jacks bad knee in angle that brought him down, seeing only hot blazes of pain. Riley! The single word pushed the pain aside and he rose again. Arnie was a brutal fighter, but not a very clever one. Jack sensed his next attacks and was able to dodge most of the punches. Jack kicked the remnants of the chair in the way, just as Arnie came at him again. The gorilla lost his balance and fell forward. Jack anticipated this and shattered his windpipe with one heavy punch. Arnie laid on the ground, clutching his neck and dying within minutes. Jack didn't spare him another glare. He took the guns of the bodies and stumbled over to Riley, who was totally silent. That worried Jack. His girl was really pale and shaking. She was in shock and Jack knew, that although Riley wasn't seriously injured, a shock mustn't be considered lightly.

„Riley, hun are you ok?" Stupid question Dalton, he reprimanded himself. She clearly was not ok. Jack loosened her bonds as quickly as he was able to. He pulled her out of the chair and hugged her tightly. She began to sob. „Sh, it's ok. You're gonna be alright. I've got you sweetheart." Jack stroke her back in a soothing motion. „Ri, you have to be brave a little longer, ok? We have to get out of here now. There are at least six other bad boys around and Kojak." Riley nodded.

Jack opened the door and peered out. The hall was clear. They slowly crept along the wall. Jack found it more and more difficult to focus. The pain in his ribs was killing him and his knee was an ocean of agony. The blows to the head also took their toll. Just a little longer. His girl needed him to stay on his feet. As long as they weren't safe, he couldn't give in to the luxury of passing out.

Sorry, for leaving you with a bit of a cliffhanger. Please review.


	4. Chapter 4

AN:

Hey guys, I'm blown away by all the support and kind words. You're the best. I'm no medic, so please forgive me for all the mistakes.

Chapter 4

Bozer almost took down the door to the war room. Matty looked up from the laptop, where she was working with Jill.

„Bozer, what the hell …"

„Mac woke up and he said to check the tags of the dogs, he said …" Bozer didn't need to finish the sentence, because Matty was already on her phone. A minute later, she told Jill a string of numbers. Jills hands flew over the keyboard and she had the desired results a moment later.

„They are registered on Trevor Wilton, he was a suspect in several cases of arms trade, but his lawyers always got him out. He owns several buildings all over the states, the only one in this area is an old factory outside LA."

„Ok Bozer go, the tac team is already waiting on the roof. Jill send the coordinates up to the helicopter."

The helicopter flight only took 20 minutes. Bozer was sitting in his place, shaking with fear what they would find, once they reached their destination. He looked around. The tac team was a great bunch of guys, they were all trained by Jack. Hell, he even brought some of them into the group. Although he couldn't read their faces, Bozer felt the grim determination to find their leader and bring him and Riley back home.

Jack and Riley had almost reached the door, when they heard footsteps from behind. Jack turned in one swift move and shoved Riley behind his back. Two shots rang out and both guards fell to the ground dead.

„Four down, four to go," he mumbled, turning around again, stumbling into the wall as everything spun around him. „Whoa Jack, easy," Riley steadied him until he stopped swaying.

„When we move out into the factory hall, there will be no cover. I want you to stay as low as possible behind me. With a little luck, the transporter is still there and we can use him to escape." Jack pushed open the door and did a quick check on all sides, gun at the ready. The van was still there. He limped over with Riley behind him and had almost reached the van, as the first shots rang out. Jack and Riley ducked behind the van. Jack fired at the guards, but his vision was getting worse and he missed. The bad boys were shooting at the tires and flattened them in a matter of seconds.

„Son of a bitch," Jack swore. He tried to get a better look at his enemies. „There are at least two of them." He managed to kill one with the next shot. Jack threw the empty gun away and took out the second weapon. Suddenly, they heard shots from outside the factory. „I just hope this is the cavalry," Jack sighed and took aim again, but the angle was not good enough to hit the guard. Jack moved to the side of the van to get off a good shot, when he saw his target drop. The Phoenix tac team was moving in. „Our guys Ri, our guys are here." He sighed with relief. Jack bend down to help Riley up, who was sitting on the floor. Careful not to jar her injured hand, he pulled her to her feet.

Riley looked up at him with huge eyes. „Is it really over Jack?"

„It is hun. The Phoenix tac team is here, look and there's Bozer," he pointed behind her.

Riley started crying, she wasn't able to hold it together any longer. Jack put his arms around her and held her tightly. His ribs screamed at the motion, but that was secondary now. Jack had to calm his girl down, she was shaking pretty bad and Jack was already afraid, how she would cope with the whole experience.

„Jack, Riley!" Bozer screamed and skidded to a stop beside them. He grabbed both of his friends hard. Jack couldn't suppress a grunt of pain. This was definitely to much for his tortured body. He wound out of the hug and laid his hands on his knees, trying to provide his screaming lungs with some much needed air.

„How's …" wheeze „How's Mac?" wheeze „Is he… ok?" He breathed heavily.

„Mac will be fine, he lost a lot of blood, but came through surgery pretty well. Jack are you ok?" Bozer took in the beaten and bloody appearance of the Delta.

„Yeah, I'm fine," his body betrayed him as he took a step and his knee gave way. He went down hard.

„Well, almost fine, give me a hand, will you Bozer?" Wilt didn't have to be told twice, he stepped over to Jack and carefully helped him up. Jack looked back to Riley, who still hadn't uttered a word.

„We need to get her help, Boze, she's in shock." Jack had a hard time to ignore his injuries much longer, but his concern for Riley outweighed his own discomfort. Bozer nodded. „The helicopter is nearby, the tac team took out two other guys and the head of the gang, before they went in."

„Kojak?" Again Bozer nodded. „His name's Trevor Wilton, arms trader. He got what he deserved."

„No, he deserved to die slowly." Jack snarled.

„Whatever," Bozer shrugged. „Let's get you two out of here." Bozer took Riley by the arm, while Jack was supported by Kevin, the medic of the tac team. They made their way slowly out to the helicopter. Once they entered, Kevin lowered Jack carefully, well aware of his ragged breathing. He was about to start his examination, as his hands were shoved aside by Jack. „Take care of Riley first!"

„Jack, you're worse off, than she is. I'll check her out as soon as I'm done with you." Kevin tried to reason with the Delta. He started his task again, only to be pushed away. Jack pulled his gun and said in a no nonsense voice: „You will take care of her first, or do I have to shoot you?"

Kevin shrugged: „Suit yourself, Jack." He turned around, knowing when not to mess with a pissed of Jack. Bozer had already laid a blanket around Rileys shoulders and was rubbing her arms. She sat there, staring at Jack. Then she moved forward and snuggled in beside him. Jack put his arm around his girl and gave her the comfort, she needed. After a few minutes she said: „You should Kevin let do his job." „Yeah, you too," was Jacks response. He felt that Rileys inert behaviour was disappearing and the tension was lessening. He sighed in relief. His girl would be fine. Finally the stubborn Delta was able to give in to his bodys need of rest. Jack felt the inside of the helicopter dim and his head lolled to the side, unconscious.

„He passed out," Bozer cried out. Kevin gently shoved Riley out of the way. „His pulse is racing." He took out his flash light and shone it into Jacks eyes. He didn't like what he saw. He laid the Delta down and opened his shirt. There was a lot of bruising on Jacks upper body, he was concerned of internal bleeding. There wasn't much Kevin could do on the flight, but at least he could get some fluids into Jack. He started an IV and began to cut the leg of Jacks trousers, as the pilot announced. „ETA at Phoenix 2 mikes."

There was already a team of Phoenix medical ready on the roof of he building. Jack was put on a gurney and the routine of caring for an emergency was carried out with practised ease. Suddenly, Jack woke up. He sat up and sreamed: „You have to take care of Riley first, she's in shock." He looked around confused, his eyes searching for his girl. Riley stepped to the gurney and gently pushed him down. „It's ok Jack. They'll take care of both of us. Just let them do their job and don't be difficult."

Jack couldn't focus on anything, but her calm voice somehow told him, that everything would be alright. He tried to stay awake, but lost the fight. His eyes rolled back and he was out again.

Matty had watched the arrival of her team and was shocked at Jacks appearance. „What did they do to you, big guy?" She whispered and had to wipe away a silent tear. She took Rileys uninjured hand. „I'm so sorry, it took us so long, to get to you." Matty apologized, berating herself for not thinking of the dogs license tags.

Riley smiled. „It's ok, Matty. Jack got us out of there." She reached into her hair, removed the USB-clip and handed it to her boss. „Here, we've managed to get the job done."

Matty took the device. „I just hope, the price was not to high."

A couple hours later, Riley slept in a recliner beside Jacks bed. All the pleading and threatening Bozer and Matty did, had no effect. Riley wouldn't go home and rest. They finally accepted her need, to be with Jack and made her as comfortable as possible. The nurse had wheeled Macs bed into the room, because they knew their favourite patients wouldn't stay in bed, until they saw each other. This way it was easier to care for the two agents.

It was in the middle of the night. Mac was awake and concerned. He was asleep, when he was brought to Jacks room and surprised, when he woke up and saw his friend in the bed beside him. Mac saw, that Riley was wearing a sling and the fingers of her right hand were in a cast. He just hoped she wasn't hurt to badly.

He glanced over to the unconscious form of Jack. There was no question, Jack was hurt badly. His face was barely recognizable. One eye swollen shut, cuts, bruises and an obviously broken nose told, what his brother went through. By Jacks laboured breathing, Mac added broken ribs to the pile. Jacks left knee was elevated and heavily bandaged. That were the injuries that were visible, but Mac had to know. He pushed himself up in bed, wincing at the sharp pain, that shot through his body. Just getting into a sitting position was a real chore. Mac paused a little and pushed himself on his feet. He began to wobble, but could himself steady with the help of the IV tower. The blond shuffled to the end of Jacks bed and grabbed the folder, that was stored there. He took a seat next to Jacks bed and began to read the folder. It was horrible to see so many painful injuries listed and to know, that it was his best friend, who was suffering. Mac was relieved, that there weren't any internal injuries mentioned.

A nurse walked in and shot him an annoyed look. „What are you doing out of bed, Mac? I've brought you in, so you could be near him, but that isn't enough, is it?"

„Sorry, Lucy. I really appreciate, that you moved me in here, but I had to know, if there are any internal injuries."

Lucys glance softened. „It's ok Mac. Just make sure, you don't stay up too long. You've lost a lot of blood and your body needs to rest."

Mac nodded: „How is he?" Concern written all over his face.

„Well, he was beaten half to death. We've treated all the injuries we could. The CT scan was clear, but he received so many heavy blows to his head, he has a serious concussion. There might be some swelling in his brain, we'll have to watch him closely. Right now, I'm gonna have to wake him up to check his alertness. Don't be scared, he was pretty confused the last two times I did it, but that's normal given his injuries." Lucy explained in a calm voice. She stepped over to Jack and gave him a slight shake. „Jack, you have to wake up. I'll have to check your eyes again. Come on, I know you can do it. Don't play possum with me Dalton, you know that doesn't work," she added in a stern voice.

That had the desired effect and Jacks eyes opened slowly. He blinked several times, but wasn't able to focus properly. „There you are. Jack I'm gonna check your eyes, so don't hit me." Mac raised an eyebrow at hearing this.

„Last time I barely avoided getting punched, after that. Good thing, he's a bit slow now." She smirked.

Jack groaned when Lucy pulled out a tiny flash light and shone it into his eyes. He sqeezed them shut. A second later his eyes opened and he shot up in bed. „Riley! She's hurt. Have to help her!" Lucy gently pushed him back onto the pillow. „Easy Jack, we've already taken care of Riley. I told you last time, remember?" Lucy tried to reassure him. Mac joined her, by taking Jacks hand in his. „Riley is ok Jack, calm down buddy. Everything is gonna be ok." Only now Jack became aware of Mac sitting with him. He sqeezed Macs hand. „Mac are you alright, kid? I was so worried. They shot you, didn't they?" Jacks breathing became laboured, the pain he was in, was clearly visible on his face.

Mac rubbed his arm. „Easy Jack, just breathe big guy. Yeah, they shot me, but Bozer found me pretty soon. I'm fine."

The Deltas stare was blank, he clearly couldn't process everything he had heard. After a minute he slowly nodded. Jack looked over and saw Riley sleeping in the recliner next to the bed. „You have to make her lie down, she's been through so much," he whispered. „I … I failed to protect her Mac. They hurt her." Tears were running down his face. Macs heart constricted, seeing his brother in so much distress.

„No, Jack. You didn't fail her. You saved her life, she's gonna be ok. Riley is tough. Don't blame yourself for what happened."

Lucy said: „Sorry for interrupting you boys, but I have to check some things. Jack, you have to answer me some questions." Lucy did the usual concussion protocol questions. Mac winced, as he saw how Jack was struggling. He knew, where he was and his name, but nothing more. He couldn't even name the month. Suddenly Jack lost all his color, Lucy immediately recognized the signs and had a bowl ready and Jack threw up several times. After he was done, he fell back onto the pillow exhausted. Mac winced in sympathy. He knew from experience, how vomitting with broken ribs sucked. Lucy carefully ran a wet cloth over Jacks face and he shot her a grateful look.

After she was done, the nurse replaced the empty IV bottle and replaced the bowl with an empty one. „Relax Jack. I'll be back in an hour, then we're gonna repeat this fun."

„If this is your definition of fun, than you can work as a domina, if Phoenix ever kicks you out," Jack mumbled and was asleep in seconds.

„Well, at least his sense of humor didn't suffer," she smiled and left the room.

Please review!


	5. Chapter 5

AN:

Congratulations! You've made it through another story with me. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing. It would be great, if you would leave me a review. Thanks guys!

Chapter 5

For the rest of the night, the pattern remained the same. Lucy came in every hour and repeated the concussion protocol with Jack. Mac slept on and off, but always woke up, when the nurse came in to check on them. He was extremely worried about Jack. Mac had seen the Delta with a concussion several times before, but never to that extent. This was a really bad one. He just hoped, Jack didn't suffer permanent damage. Jack was confused every time, he was woken up. His mind seemed to clear up a bit after a while, but he had trouble answering simple questions. The Delta kept repeating the same questions over and over again. Mostly about Rileys and Macs injuries.

Mac had returned to his bed, after almost falling out of the chair. Lucy had set up a cot on the other side of the room and forced Riley to lie down and get some decent rest.

It was nearly seven in the morning and Lucy came in again. „Here we go again, boys. This is my last visit, then I'll go home and go straight to bed."

Jack was already awake and he was in a bad mood, because he felt pretty rotten. There wasn't a place on his body, that didn't hurt. He normally hated, taking pain meds, but this time he would appreciate them. The problem was, due to the concussion the doctors weren't going to take a chance and give him drugs.

„You don't deserve to sleep, after waking me up all night long," he grumbled.

Mac laughed. „Are we a bit grumpy this morning?"

„WE," Jack pronounced the word, „feel like a freighttrain ran over US and being deprived of sleep and asked stupid questions, didn't make US feel better."

„Sorry Jack, I know you are hurting, but they really did a number on your head. We have to make sure, that we won't miss something serious. I didn't enjoy it either." Lucy apologized.

„Liar," mumbled Jack, but gave her a little smile. He turned to Mac, who laid in his bed with his eyes closed now. „How are you doing Mac?"

„The same as the last five times you asked me that," Mac looked over. „I'm fine, Jack. A little weak and sore, but otherwise ok. Don't worry about me bud."

Jack looked away, „Sorry Mac, I forgot. Everything is a blur. Can't get my thoughts straight. I guess I'm a bit messed up, here." He pointed at his head.

Lucy interrupted: „Let's have a look at your eyes, Jack." She picked up her flashlight.

Jack groaned. „Didn't know that a flashlight could be used as a torturing instrument. You enjoyed scorching my retina all night long?"

Lucy grinned: „Almost as much as fitting you out with a catheter, my dear!"

Jacks face went beet red in less than a second. Mac laughed out loud. Jack shot him a look, that could kill. „Oh, don't worry darling, Mac is sporting one too."

This time it was Jack, who was laughing, clutching his ribs, but not able to stop. Mac had turned a nice color of red and tried to disappear under the covers.

Matty entered the room with Bozer by her side. „I'm glad to hear you laughing. Want to share the joke?"

Jack went straight to serious. „Maybe another time, Matty." Riley had woken up and was slowly making her way over to Jacks bed. Jack had watched her closely, noticing the lines of pain in her face.

„Lucy, can you get Riley something for the pain, please." Lucy took a look at Riley and nodded. „Sure, be back in a minute."

„Old mother hen," Riley mumbled.

„You're welcome, hun." Jack smiled, although the smile didn't reach his eyes.

„So, how are you Jack. The doc said you were lucky, not to have suffered from internal bleeding. These guys really had some fun with you," Matty stated.

„Never been better, Matty." His body punished him for this lie, as he tried to get more comfortable in bed, he couldn't prevent a groan from escaping.

Matty raised an eyebrow. „Yeah, I see. Good, then you can go out in the field next week. There's …"

Jack looked shocked. „Uh … maybe … next week is a little to soon. I have to admit, I hurt a bit all over."

„Got you Jack." Matty grinned, but that Jack had fallen for the obvious joke, told her, that he was not firing on all cylinders right now. She sqeezed his hand. „Take all the time you need, Jack. You did a great job, keeping Riley safe and getting her out of this mess. I'm so sorry, we didn't get to you sooner. Honestly, if it weren't for Mac, I'm not sure we would have found you. I'm sorry." There were tears glistering in her eyes, only Jack was aware of it, because he had known her for a long time.

„Hey Matty, don't fret about it, I'm sure you've done everything in your might." Jack was touched by her apology. „But I don't understand, how Mac could help. He was in surgery." The Delta was confused.

Now Bozer stepped in: „We were a bit lost Jack. Every lead, every trail we had, was a dead end. The tac team literally took the place apart, but we had no clue, where they had brought you. They've only left behind the dogs. That was, what I told Mac, after he woke up. He remembered, that the dogs had license tags on them, after that it was easy to find out, where you were. I'm sorry, we'd missed the clue with the dogs."

„Hey, you found us. That's all that matters. Thanks Mac." Jack added.

„How have you managed to prevent the bad guys from getting the USB device?" Bozer was curious.

Now it was Riley who answered, while she was sitting down carefully on Jacks bed. „Well, your idea to design it as a hair clip was great, Bozer. They had no idea it was in front of them the whole time. To be honest, I probably would have given in, but Jack refused to tell them. Man, did he provoke these guys. It earned him a serious beating, but he was right. It bought us the time we needed, for you to come and get us." Riley said stone faced. „He actually tried to sell him some tiles for the room."

The others started to laugh. „What? I have to stick with my cover, at least, that's what Matty's telling me all the time." Jack started to defend himself.

„You stupid idiot! They almost killed you. What do you think would this have done to me? I …. I couldn't … without you…" Riley wasn't able to continue, as sobs shook her body. Jacks heart broke for his girl. He pulled her into a tight hug, ignoring his screaming body. „Sh, it's ok Ri. It's over, you're ok. Everything is gonna be ok, I promise." Jack rubbed her back to calm her down.

Matty took Bozer and left the room, to give them some privacy. Mac laid back and closed his eyes.

After the sobs lessened, Jack released Riley and looked her in the eyes. „I'm so sorry hun. You shouldn't have to go through something like this. I'm so sorry, they hurt you. This is something I won't forgive myself for the rest of my life. I know, you've never seen so much killin' before. This is a hard thing to digest, but I will help you through this. We will take the time, you need to cope with this. You just have to talk to me sweetheart. Promise me, not to bottle it up, will you?"

Riley nodded. „Can you just hold me please?" „Sure, let's get comfortable, this bed is big enough for two." Jack moved over in bed, not able to do without a hiss of pain. Riley looked guilty. „It's ok Jack. I can sit on the chair."

„No, I need this, just as much as you do honey." Jack carefully laid back and pulled Riley next to him. His arm around her shoulder, he sighed in contentment. A few minutes later, he felt the tension leave Rileys body, her breathing evened out and Jack knew, she was asleep. He sighed in relief, now he could give in to the exhaustion too.

Mac looked over to the sleeping pair. He had heard everything and was touched, how Jack had found the right words to get through to Riley. But he was not surprised, he had experienced Jacks fatherly care a lot in the time, he had known the Delta. Jacks mental strength was something, Mac could draw from, when everything became to much for him. The texan had the ability to put the things into perspective for Mac and to pull him out of his own hell. Jack would do the same for Riley.

Mac realized, how much they all depended on the Delta. Not only on his tactical and fighting abilities. Jack was like a father and brother to all of them. Always willing to provide advice, a shoulder to cry on or a comforting hug. Suddenly Mac felt guilty. Jack gave so much and got so less in exchange. Mac made a mental note to talk to Jack about how much he appreciated the older man.

Four weeks later.

„How do I look? Do you think I should use some more Cool Water?" Jack was really nervous.

„Relax Jack," Mac couldn't hide a smile. „You look great." That wasn't a lie. Jack looked stunning, wearing a black suit and a black shirt. Jack reached for his gun and put it in the little holster on his back.

Mac raised an eyebrow. „Really? Jack you're going on a date armed?"

Jack answered. „I don't go anywhere without a gun. Dates are no exceptions. Maybe she's a psychopath or something worse. I can't believe you and Riley talked me into a blind date."

„So which questions are forbidden?" Mac pressed.

This time it was Jack, who raised an eyebrow. „Which?" Mac repeated sternly.

Jack sighed. „Do you like Bruce Willis? What do you think about guns? Honestly Mac! This is not my first date, actually I can be really charming, if I want to."

„Ok, ok I get it." Mac grinned. „Have some fun, brother. You really deserve it after the last weeks."

A shadow crossed Jacks face. The last weeks had indeed been tough. His injuries, especially the lasting effects of his concussion had made him pretty miserable. It has only been this week, that he was cleared to drive a car again. Jack was still suffering from headaches and on occasion a migrane attack. The dizziness was gone and his ribs were healing nicely, although his knee was still bothering him, visible on his slight limp. The constant worry about Mac and Riley had slowed down his recovery, but that was something, he would never tell his friends. Jack didn't know, but Mac was well aware of that fact, but he simply couldn't stop the Delta from worrying. Jack had been a cloumn of strength for Riley, who had been struggling to cope with the events that happened. But now things were slowly going back to normal. They all were back at work, although none of the three has been cleared for field work yet.

„Yeah, maybe a change of scenery won't be to bad. I'm sick and tired of docs, meds and PT. Time for a little fun." Jack took one last look into the mirror and left Macs apartment.

The restaurant, he had picked for the blind date was a good Italian Osteria. If the date would suck, the food would be good at least. He took the single red rose and walked into the restaurant. His date would carry the same flower. Jack didn't know, what she looked like, he only knew her name was Ann. He noticed a brunette sitting in the corner, with her back to him. The red rose lying on the table.

Jack straigthened and approached the table. „I think, you must be Ann."

The brunette turned around. She was beautiful. „Hi Jack." She smiled.

„Riley?! What's that supposed to be? You set me up!" Jack didn't know, if he should be angry, amused or relieved. He sat down on the chair.

Riley smiled. „No offense Jack. I just wanted to show you, that a blind date could be a nice surprise and not a bad thing. And …" She paused and became serious. „This is a little thank you, for being there for me the last weeks. I feel guilty, because you were recovering from your own injuries and needed the rest. But I …" Riley swallowed hard. „I just needed you, like I never have before. Thank you for bringing me back and support me. I probably would have quit my job at Phoenix, if it weren't for you, because I thought, that I haven't got it in me. You showed me, that I don't have to be ashamed to be scared and that it isn't a bad thing to ask for help. I owe you so much Jack. I love you, big guy." Riley couldn't stop a few tears from falling.

Jack was overwhelmed. „Riley sweetheart, you don't have to thank me. That's what familiy is for. Everybody needs help once in a while. I'm just so sorry, you've been thrown into that situation, without warning. We can train as much as we want, but nothing can prepare you for the reality, that hits you out in the field. I know, you are one of the toughest girls, I've ever met, and if I hadn't trust you to be able to cope with all that shit, I wouldn't have brought you in at all. I'm just so sorry, I wasn't able to protect you from being hurt. I won't never forgive myself for that. I'm proud of you Ri. You are my daughter, it doesn't matter my name's not the one on your birth certificate. That's simply the way I feel about you and that will never change. I love you Riley Ann Davis."

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